I switched to the all natural diet over 6 months ago and I love it. The problem is my 70lb bitch blows though the honest kitchen once a month, at 70 bucks a clip this gets expensive. I have two questions for people who use the honest kitchen diet or some other natural kibble diet such as Chicken soup for dog lover’s soul, which I am currently trying out.
1) For the people using the honest kitchen, what’s your program? I would mix stuff in such as, fish, chicken, liver, kidneys, etc, along with vita C, omega 3, Vita E. The 10lb bag is supposed to make roughly 40lb of hydrated food but when I used to use a Eukakunba it would last me three months, about the same size bag when honest kitchen is hydrated. Honest kitchen giving her 2 cups dry then hydrating lasts me about 3 weeks. But, that’s all I would use except for some chicken wings, necks, and all the vita and omega supplements. I was using the force honest kitchen.

2) I have been slowly converting her to this other natural diet Chick soup for Dog lover’s soul, mixing in stuff as stated above. I started out giving her less then a coup with turkey meat, chicken, etc etc and slowly increased it but she has had diarrhea all week <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />, throwing up stomach bio <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />, so I backed her off of it. I have heard that some dogs get reactions to grain foods such as this, I have never tried it with her before, nor have I ever seen a reaction from grain food before. Is this a reaction from grain food or possibly me giving her too much too soon? Thanks for any input guys

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I switched to the all natural diet over 6 months ago and I love it. The problem is my 70lb bitch blows though the honest kitchen once a month, at 70 bucks a clip this gets expensive. I have two questions for people who use the honest kitchen diet or some other natural kibble diet such as Chicken soup for dog lover’s soul, which I am currently trying out.
1) For the people using the honest kitchen, what’s your program? I would mix stuff in such as, fish, chicken, liver, kidneys, etc, along with vita C, omega 3, Vita E. The 10lb bag is supposed to make roughly 40lb of hydrated food but when I used to use a Eukakunba it would last me three months, about the same size bag when honest kitchen is hydrated. Honest kitchen giving her 2 cups dry then hydrating lasts me about 3 weeks. But, that’s all I would use except for some chicken wings, necks, and all the vita and omega supplements. I was using the force honest kitchen.

2) I have been slowly converting her to this other natural diet Chick soup for Dog lover’s soul, mixing in stuff as stated above. I started out giving her less then a coup with turkey meat, chicken, etc etc and slowly increased it but she has had diarrhea all week <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />, throwing up stomach bio <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />, so I backed her off of it. I have heard that some dogs get reactions to grain foods such as this, I have never tried it with her before, nor have I ever seen a reaction from grain food before. Is this a reaction from grain food or possibly me giving her too much too soon? Thanks for any input guys

Multi-part question:

I use THK as backup to a raw diet (for empty-freezer syndrome) and for traveling. I do add the label's suggestion of 50% to 100% of each dry Force cup in "add-ins." I use RMBs (very meaty) as the add-ins.

Chicken Soup is way better than many kibbles, IMHO, because the first 3 or 4 -- I forget -- ingredients are meat and meat meal. Still, it has 2 or 3 grains, I think.

I believe that grain-heavy foods are a poor long-term diet for dogs, but I am not familiar with the reaction you mention to grains. Diarrhea is a common reaction to a new richer food (more meat and/or fat), but vomiting is pretty extreme.

Short-term, I'd call the vet, and also start with a fast and then a bland chicken-breast-well-cooked-rice diet until her stomach is back to normal. I'd add some plain cooked (canned) pumpkin* to it to firm up the stool.

Long-term, I'd consider trying to stick with THK (or actual raw). If you go with the kibble, I would do it more slowly (and definitely stop for now until she's back to normal).

I'm not a health professional. I would call the vet if my dog had diarrhea and vomiting for days.

Good luck, and I hope you will update us.

*not pumpkin pie filling -- no sugar and spices; just pumpkin

I looked at the ingredients again for CSFDLS and the first few are Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, cracked pearled barley, white rice, oatmeal, whole grain brn rice, millet, chicken fat, potatoes, duck, salmon, egg product and flax seed, there was much more but that was the first few ingredients.

She did throw up for about a day and a half, about 4 times. The thing that perturbs me is that she still has diarrhea. When you say to cook her rice, like white rice? As far as a fast, how long? A day? Then start feeding her. I have never given her any grain foods before so I wasn’t sure at what kind of reaction to look out for. She went from Euka to HK and has been there for two years along with raw.

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.......She did throw up for about a day and a half, about 4 times. The thing that perturbs me is that she still has diarrhea. When you say to cook her rice, like white rice? As far as a fast, how long? A day? Then start feeding her. ......She went from Euka to HK and has been there for two years along with raw.

Yes, I would fast for a day and let her stomach calm down.

Then well-cooked (almost like gruel) plain white rice and white no-skin no-fat chicken meat, thrown in with it. The plain pumpkin will help too. So three items.

I would not let it go long without calling the vet, because of the dehydration that can result from diarrhea. In fact, if you mean watery diarrhea, I'd call now and check in. Good luck, and I hope you post an update.

P.S. I'm not a health professional.

what you want to do after you call the vet is what is called the "GI diet" (gastro-intestinal). it is always prescribed for dogs with any kind of digestive upset.

1. fast for 24 hours. provide plenty of clean, fresh water.
2. serve white rice boiled to mush in chicken or beef broth.
3. after a day or two of the plain white rice, add in a little boiled chicken meat or boiled hamburger. make sure you skim off ALL the fat. do not feed fat.
4. gradually increase the boiled meat and reduce the rice proportion, a bit every day. by now the dog should have normal stools.
5. once the stools are normal, and the vomiting has ended, gradually add the dog's regular food back into the boiled rice/meat mixture.

i make a huge pot of rice and a huge pot of boiled chicken or hamburger, stash them in the fridge, and then serve as above over a period of at least several days.

plain canned pumpkin does help regulate the bowels. you can add some into the plain rice.

once your dog is stable again, please consider feeding a fresh raw diet and stay away from kibble. the kibbles on the market that are dehydrated raw are only meant as a supplement to a fresh raw diet, not as an exclusive diet.

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..........*edited to delete double post* <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Time for a trip to the vet. Bring a fresh stool sample and have the vet do a float AND a smear.

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the kibbles on the market that are dehydrated raw are only meant as a supplement to a fresh raw diet, not as an exclusive diet......

Ah ... I see where we diverged. Innova, I believe, is kibble. THK is not.

Joe was feeding THK.

You did indeed concur about calling the vet <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />, so we have a unanimous vote, Joe.